


Defining Your Terms

by sanctuary_for_all



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy - All Media Types
Genre: Fix-It, Friendship, Gen, Headcanon, Missing Scene, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-02
Updated: 2014-09-02
Packaged: 2018-02-15 20:05:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2241732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Whore" did not mean what Drax had thought it meant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Defining Your Terms

**Author's Note:**

> I swear, I've been meaning to write this for a month now. Drax just looked so shocked after Gamora freaked out when he called her "whore," and he never called her anything like that at any other point during the movie, that I know something like this had to have happened.

Gamora sat down on the bunk she had chosen, smiling a little as she smoothed her hand over the cushion. Quill had seemed nervous about the simple space, prattling on about posters and something called "knick-knacks," but it had been a long time since Gamora had possessed even this much. Everywhere she had slept before had always belonged to Thanos, or Ronan. Enemy territory that followed her even into her dreams.

Her fingers twitched at the sound of footsteps, stilling them before they could reach for the blade at her side. There was no need for that here.

Gamora turned to find Drax standing in the doorway. "Welcome," she said carefully, remembering the way her parents had greeted people who entered their home.  This was not quite her home, but it was as close as she had come in a very long time. "Did you need something?"

It was only then that she noticed his shoulders were hunched slightly, a hesitant expression on his face. "My need is to apologize to you," he said after a moment. "After you reacted so strongly to the term 'whore,' Quill informed me that it is used as a derogatory term in many cultures. I did not intend either the insult or the inaccuracy, especially now that we have become friends."

Gamora just stared at him, stunned. She thought she had learned to expect the unexpected, with these people – Quill's strange dancing one moment, an Infinitely Stone the next – but this was beyond even her new definitions of what was possible. "What ... did you think the term 'whore' meant?"

Drax shrugged. "On Knowhere, a woman came up to me who used the term and asked if I wished to procure her services. She then pulled out a large knife and stabbed a man who apparently owed her funds." His brow furrowed. "I assumed she was a hired killer, much as you had once been."

Gamora blinked, surprised at how much sense his train of thought made. "No," she said carefully. "It is another term for a sex worker."

Drax's expression grew almost wistful, old grief still brimming in his eyes. "I am familiar with sex workers," he said quietly. "They have been most kind when the loneliness has grown overwhelming."

Gamora watched him, her own sadness slightly less sharp in her chest. Impulsively, she stood and crossed the room to him. "If you owe me an apology, than I owe you a thank you." She took one of his hands in hers. "You did not have to shoot Nebula for me."

"She spoke of you inaccurately." His brow lowered, as if even the memory still upset him. "You are not stupid, or weak."

Gamora felt herself smile again. "And no one speaks of your friends inaccurately."

Slowly, Drax smiled back. "Including myself."

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my original short fiction on my [blog](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


End file.
